bbc news article on gaming in 2007.

the bbc usually have a hackneyed approach to technology news that betrays their hideous ignorance in the subject. nevertheless this article throws up some interesting figures, such as sales reaching £1.5 billion this year, as well as favourite games from such luminaries as david braben and the editor of edge magazine.

source: bbc news

wii officially hacked, softmod inevitable.

according to this video on youtube, some ubergeeks have managed to hack the wii and run their own code on it. at this stage they just have the screen display the x/y axis of the remote infra red pointer and buttons being pressed, but it's a start!

source: kotaku

working on new year's eve.

working on hogmany is a bit of a pain, but it gave ma an hour to have my first stab at final fantasy xii: revenant wings on the DS.

the battle system is like a cross between the final fantasy tactics series and advance wars, but in real-time. it seems a little clunky at first but i started to get the hang of it after a few minutes.

orange box.

i bought the orange box the day after boxing day with some GAME vouchers i received, and just finished portal today. it was incredibly enjoyable from start to finish. i just have the advanced levels to complete and all the rest of the achievement scouring associated.

eternal sonata has about 5 hours to its name now, getting into it big time.

wii at christmas.

much wii sports was had. four player bowling never loses its magic.

videogaiden.

i stayed up to watch the videogaiden "christmas special" last night as unfortunately i had to work today.

it was utter, utter baws.

honestly, i've never watched such a cobbled together, filler-filled cringefest before. it made thumb bandits, bits, bad influence and when games attack seem half-decent in comparison.

the worst part overall was when they had frank sidebottom playing a 5-minute improvised casio-chord christmas song. no, it was even worse than you think.

other low-lights included a really badly acted piece on wrapping gifts with an obvious punchline; dominik diamond looking thoroughly embarrassed and possibly contemplating firing his agent; predictable attempts at mainstream baiting (lol need for speed sux) and fanboy satiation (magic trick involving super obscure rare japan 64 game X!); and the obvious ned jokes that even chewing the fucking fat did better 5 years ago.

seriously, give up hope of a decent terrestrial tv show about video games. it will never, ever happen.

eternal sonata.

i picked up this game a few days ago for a relatively cheap levy. after playing the demo i was captured by the shiny graphics and the innovative combat system.

so far it's been far too easy and heavy on cut scenes/dialogue yet throughly enjoyable.

broadband blues.

virgin media are currently having difficulties in my area, which means my connection stays up for a maximum of 10 minutes before having to reboot the modem and i'm getting speeds of 30kb/s. i am not happy.

i had planned to check out the new ps3 firmware and the kane & lynch demo tonight but big beardy branson has other ideas.

i've managed to get up to 70 stars in mario galaxy as luigi now. i'm concentrating on finishing that before getting stuck into halo 3 singleplayer.

isn't christmas grand?

the inevitable rise of the arcade.

i noticed with interest in this month's issue of EDGE that certain branches of HMV, most notably local to me (but not closest, you understand) in edinburgh, had started to set up a "gamer zone" where you can pay an hourly rate to sit and play console games.

i don't think it's just me that believes that everyone else has missed a trick here. HMV are reviving a business model as old as the industry itself, but populating it with the very thing that killed the arcades to being with. it's fucking genius.

personally i own a 360 and enjoy playing it at home, but who wouldn't relish the idea of showing off those halo skills in public? perhaps they are planning -wait for it - LAN parties in-store? correct me if i'm wrong, but the execs at HMV have trumped GAME/station at their own... game. the music industry is kaput and dvd sales are falling through the floor, so they've been desperately mining new revenue streams, and i think they've struck solid gold.

read all about it:
http://xboxer.tv/2007/10/hmv_gaming_zone_debuts_in_edin.html
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=29571

super luigi galaxy.

i'm up to 30 stars as luigi now. some of the comet stars are tough, like the cosmic comet in the honeybee galaxy - cosmic luigi moves fucking fast.

orange button blues.

my wireless guitar hero 3 controller's orange button has stopped working. activision and red octane's support websites are useless america-centric nonsense so it looks like it's back to HMV. my confidence is not high that they will replace it.

oh well, i prefer the xplorer anyway.

mario galaxy is awesome.

super mario galaxy for the wii is one of the best games ever made. although i would say that, since i grew up playing any of the decent games in the canon that i could get my sweaty fingers on.

it's also one of the select few games i managed to complete this year. and by 'complete' i don't just mean the narrative, i mean 120 stars and luigi unlocked. now i just need to finish the game playing as luigi.